She sits up and raises her brow. “Am I not going to be able to tell you anything?”
“What the fuck else is there?”
“Nothing, but...” she sighs. “She wanted to go see Seb, and I told her she had to wait for you to come home. She told me she was going over to see your mom, but she sneaked out and thought she could walk to Kristen’s.”
Because I know she’s safe and up in her room, I laugh, tiredly.
“It’s not funny, Leo. I've grounded her and she’s lost her phone for a month. She's been a nightmare. Did you hear that she told Warren her uncle was gonna kick his ass for letting her get past him?”
I can’t stop the smirk. It gets me a slapped arm, and I laugh. “It explains what Warren was going on about.” Lifting her hand, I slip her glove off and press my lips to the inside of her palm. “How much have you been blaming yourself?”
She snorts. “You’d think I would be, wouldn’t you? But I haven’t. I've given her full credit. She's never lied to me before, so I had no reason not to believe her when she said she was going over to your mom’s.”
“We’re gonna have to keep a closer eye on her, she’s growing up, and it seems she’s a clever little shit to add.”
“She can bring it on, between us, there’s nothing she could do that we haven’t, right?”
Smirking, I nod. “Right. Cause, babe, if she is worse, we’re fucked.”
“You will be, I have two boys to raise.”
Laughing, I pull her against me and hold her tight.
“What happened out there?”
“I’ll tell you some other time. All I want to do now is hold you.”
“I can deal with that.”
The backroom is full but when Luca and the Dog City chapter leave, noticeable absences will return, and the absence of our fallen brothers will be loud in their silence.
“We’re home. We fuckin’ made it.”
The table is pounded by fists until I calm them. “Before we move on, before wecanmove on, we’re gonna vote.”
“On what?” Myles asks.
“On whether you all think I'm capable of leading this club.”
Dad shoots up out of his chair and stares down at me. “Shit got out of hand for a while, but I gave you the gavel. There will be no vote.”
“Fuckin’ right,” Luca chimes in.
I hold Dad’s stare until he sits back down and nods.
“Okay, since that was wrapped up quick, it’s about time we get back to business. We’ve got more empty chairs than we have with asses on. It needs to change. We need to recruit. Only, it can’t just be anyone. Whoever brings someone in has to have known them a long time. My old lady was nearly killed in her own home cause we failed to vet him properly.”
Zach says, “I’ll be sure to dig deeper than before.”
I nod and grin. “It goes without saying we’re glad you’ve stuck around, I hope your mom can find peace where ever she ends up.”
Holly took Rayna by her house yesterday to say goodbye. Kristen promised her she’d call all the time and that Rayna could go visit when she was settled. I’m empathetic to her grief but she better keep her word to my daughter.
“It never crossed my mind to leave. This is where I belong,” Zach says.
Brothers cheer and I smile. It is where he belongs. It’s his home.
“We’ve been through a royal fuckin’ shit time, brothers, but the road in front of us is clear. We’re gonna take over the Hog’s territory and I want Mason and Myles leading the set up of new chapters.”
